Villagers go wild at
forest-land acquisitionInjure three guards after man’s death
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Elephants and grass

Gurdev Singh Badal, a former Agriculture Minister of Punjab, the first elephant, charged with illegally occupying hundreds of acres of forest land.

Taking him on is the Forest Department, the second elephant, who, now, wants the land back.

Stuck between the two are small farmers, the grass, who were settled here with the promise that the land would, later, be allotted to them. In the clash between two elephants, the grass is bound to get crushed.

Gaur Sianh Khan Mohammad (Ludhiana), December 14
The attempt of the Divisional Forest Department to acquire hundreds of acres along the Sutlej from some farmers took a violent turn late yesterday when at least three forest guards were attacked and injured at Kot Umra village.

The death of a farmer, reportedly, due to the shock of having lost his land to the government, has triggered tension in Gaur Sianh Khan Mohammad village as well.

A visit to the villages showed that the tension was only increasing. The villages have been witnessing intense activity for the past two weeks, following the move of the Forest Department to wrest the land from the alleged illegal possession of a former Agriculture Minister of Punjab, Gurdev Singh Badal.

The department has been using this opportunity to extend the drive and wrest hundreds of acres of, allegedly, forest land from the possession of the Rai Sikhs living in the Bet area. This has given rise to the trouble.

Not willing to part with the land, the farmers of Kot Umra village attacked at least three forest guards and injured them. One of the guards is still in Sudhar Hospital. An FIR was registered against these farmers today at the Sidhwan Bet police station.

The farmers are not even aware that a case has been registered against them. Their tempers are already flared, after a farmer died, allegedly of heart attack, after his land was taken over by the department. Farmers said the department was continuing the work, even though the Deputy Commissioner had given orders for it to be stopped. Mr M.S. Chhina, Senior Superintendent of Police at Jagroan, said the DC had given these orders verbally; and the police was only maintaining law and order and not taking over the land. He said an FIR had indeed been registered in this case.

Villagers of Gaur Sianh said, if the department continued with its move, their protest would turn violent and the guards would be hounded out of the village. Makhan Singh, a 40-year-old villager, could not bear the shock of losing 2 acres, that were his only source of income, and died.

“Makhan was chicken-hearted, so, he died, but we are not like him. We will not spare the Forest Department employees if they visit our village now,” said an angry villager.

Mr Jarnail Singh, Divisional Forest Officer, said the move would continue and the officials were not afraid of death. He is looking after the guard who has been admitted to Sudhar Hospital after receiving stab wounds. He said the department had to acquire all land left of Sutlej, from Machhiwara to Sidhwan Bet. He said the farmers tilling the land were land-grabbers, who needed to be treated the way they were being treated.

The villagers have no other source of income, besides the 1 or 2 acres with each person. Today, about 150 families were mourning the death of Makhan Singh in the village. They said, for a small farmer, losing land meant losing life.

Mr Desraj, a former panch of the village, said the documents of this land were in the names of the farmers since 1971 when they had found a source of livelihood in this land that they had, then, cleaned and levelled. “Suddenly, after 30 years, the department has started occupying the land. Every politician gave us false assurances before the elections. The previous government had promised us that it would allot us the land. This time, some Congress leaders had come to us to seek votes. We had, then, supported them, but now, they are of no help to us. Now, whoever will take up our cause will get our votes,” he said.

Ms Gardavo Bai, an elderly woman of the village, said: “This land used to give us food. Have they thought of providing us with an alternative source of livelihood.”

The Ludhiana Vigilance Bureau had registered a case against Gurdev Singh Badal, charging him with illegally occupying 197 acres in Kot Umra and 245 acres in Gaur Sianh Khan Mohammad village. Later, it came to light that, besides relatives and friends of the former minister, several Rai Sikh farmers were also settled on this land, which had become their only source of income.

Ludhiana, December 14
A rather unusual scene was witnessed at the District Courts today when a buffalo was produced before the judge on the request of defence counsel, in a theft case.

The buffalo formed part of the ‘case property’ that the prosecution produced before the court of Mr Balwinder Kumar, Judicial Magistrate (First Class).

The buffalo, reportedly belonging to Amanveer Singh of Salem Tabri, was stolen in August 2000 allegedly by his servant. The accused was apprehended, along with the buffalo by the PCR men, when he was taking it to Tajpur Dairy Complex for selling it, according to prosecution. An FIR was registered at police station Division No 3.

Interestingly, on the last date of hearing, the statement of Amanveer Singh was recorded in the court. But the defence counsel refused to cross examine the witness in the absence of buffalo. He stressed before the court that the prosecution be directed to produce the animal which was allegedly stolen by his client. Thereafter the court directed Amanveer Singh to produce the buffalo before the court on the next hearing.

The owner of the buffalo produced it in district court with great difficulty today. But he was not cross examined by the defence counsel and the case was adjourned to January, 2003 when the ‘case property’ will have to be produced again.

Ludhiana, December 14
Mr Jagdish Tangri, accused of supplying arms which were allegedly used in Godhra riots, was
remanded in police custody for one day by a court here today.

Angry supporters of Mr Tangri raised slogans outside the court. The police used force to stop them and also arrested one person.

Mr Tangri was produced in the court
amides tight security on the production warrants issued to the court. He was formally arrested with the permission of the court.

Mr Balwinder Kumar, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) remanded Mr Tangri as the government’s pleader contended that the accused was needed for interrogation in connection with an FIR No. 45 registered at police station (Division No. 3) under Sections 121-A/122 of the IPC. However, the counsel for Mr Tangri strongly refuted the allegations and alleged that he had been falsely booked on the instructions of some senior officials.

The court has allowed the

counsel to meet Mr Tangri from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. if he so desires.

An application for initiating contempt proceedings against the Superintendent of Central Jail, Ludhiana, and other jail officials concerned with the allegations that they failed to release the accused despite bail orders, was also filed by the counsel today.

It has been alleged in the contempt application that the jail authorities had unintentionally released the accused, though it was in the knowledge of Hon’ble court’s directive to release the accused and in this way they disobeyed the court orders.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana, had yesterday issued release warrants to Superintendent (Jail) after accepting surety bonds, as per the directions of the High Court. But Mr Tangri could not be released on bail, as the jail authorities received production warrants of the accused in another case by the court.

Ludhiana, December 14
The Punjab Government will soon be constituting a regulatory authority for monitoring the functioning of private hospitals and nursing homes in the state. This was disclosed here today by the Health Minister, Mr R.C. Dogra, while talking to reporters after inaugurating the Food Expo-2002. He said it was high time that such an authority was set up to monitor the functioning of private hospitals and nursing homes.

He said the setting up of such an authority had become necessary in view of the complaints that private hospitals were charging exorbitantly and it was practically impossible for the poor or even the middle-class people to afford treatment in these hospitals. He admitted that people did not like visiting government hospitals for treatment, but many of them were not in a position to pay for the treatment in private hospitals. Such an authority would help in bringing treatment at private hospitals within their reach, he said.

He said discussions on similar lines had already been held with the Union Health Minister, who was also learnt to have favoured the setting up of such an authority. In fact, private medical services had come up as an industry with massive turnover running into hundreds of crores in Punjab alone, he said.

About the presence of spurious drugs in the market, the minister said there was a shortage of drug inspectors. There were only nine drug inspectors for 17 districts, he said. He said there was a need of at least two drug inspectors in each district for effective monitoring of sale of drugs and to ensure that

spurious drugs were not supplied to the people.

He said the date for inaugurating the new building of the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, would be announced soon. Earlier, the inauguration had to be postponed due to some hectic schedule of the Chief Minister, he added. He said the Chief Minister would himself come to inaugurate the building and dedicate it to the people of the state.

The minister observed that this was high time to restore the confidence of the people in the government health services. He said several steps were being taken in that direction. The doctors working in remote and rural areas were also being motivated to perform their duties with dedication.

He claimed that the Chief Minister’s campaign of enhancing accountability had yielded good results and there was a perceptible difference visible everywhere. However, he admitted it would take some time to change the situation completely.

Ludhiana, December 14
The Punjab Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into the alleged police high-handedness on DMCH employees suffered a big setback today when the Association for Democratic Rights, Punjab, decided to boycott the inquiry being conducted by a DSP on the plea that it did not expect any justice from an inquiry conducted by the police against the police.

The PHRC had ordered a probe to be conducted by ADGP (Crime) into the happening of July 13, 2002, in which one person had died and several others injured due to lathi charge on DMCH employees by the Ludhiana police on a complaint filed by the AFDR.

Professor A.K. Maleri, district president and Professor Jagmohan Singh, general secretary AFDR, said since the probe was against the police, it should not be conducted by the police itself. “In the last meeting held on December 6, an agreement was made that the DSP, Mr Sukhminder Singh Uppal will visit the hospital on December 13, and all the persons, witnesses and victims will be
contacted by the AFDR to help the Commission’s office to record facts, but the DSP changed the date to December 14 which resulted in disruption of all our efforts to produce the witnesses”, said Prof. Maleri.

Meanwhile, the inquiry team sent by the ADGP (crime) on the directions of Punjab Human Rights Commission (PHRC) has assured that it will submit its report to the ADGP (crime) within a few days, if all goes well with the findings.

Mr Sukhminder Singh Uppal, DSP (Crime Branch) from Patiala, visited DMCH today to probe into the allegations of representation of the hospital employees, particularly women , during and after the July 13 agitation.

It may be recalled that the Association for Democratic Rights, Punjab, had asked the PSHRC to conduct an inquiry into the “bloody clash” that took place between the Ludhiana police and DMCH employees on July 13. In their representation submitted to PSHRC, the association members had alleged that it was because of the “vindictive nature” of the police that the peaceful agitation of the DMCH employees took an ugly turn. In their enclosed report, the association members had also said that the employees, particularly the women employees, were misbehaved with in the police station by the police. The association had also demanded the withdrawal of ‘false cases’ framed against doctors and other employees.

Mr Sukhminder Singh, however
said, "We try to submit our inquiry report by next week, but last time also, the employees were able to produce just two witnesses”. On asking about the boycott by the members of Association for Democratic Rights in the present inquiry, Mr Sukhminder Singh
said, "Some of the members were interfering in the inquiry. I told them that this way the team will not be able to get independent findings. I can not comment on whether they have boycotted or not”.

Meanwhile, resentment prevailed among the employees of DMCH today when their law officer, Mr Satnam Singh Saini, was issued termination orders by the management. One of the employees, on the condition of anonymity,
said, "They have terminated the services of the law officer without any reason. This kind of step will not be tolerated by us”.

According to an official press release of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, the decision regarding termination of Mr Satnam Singh Saini, law officer, will be given on December 16. Mr Rajeev Varma, manager (HR and ER), DMCH, said that in future the legal cell will not be established in the hospital after passing the abolition order of legal cell.

The hospital authorities maintained that the interest of the ailing and sick patients was uppermost in their mind. All the efforts should be put together to deliver the best medical care and patient care at the hospital.

Ludhiana, December 14
The All India FCI Mazdoor Federation, Punjab, has urged the management of Food Corporation of India (FCI) to bring about uniformity in employing labour at its depots and put an end to discrimination. In a high-level meeting with the officials of Punjab region office of the FCI, the federation representatives also discussed pending demands of ‘palledars’.

According to Mr Amar Singh Bhattian, president and Mr Amar Nath Koom Kalan, general secretary of the federation, the FCI was having three kinds of system for employing labour at its 140 depots in the state. At some places, the labour was employed on a contract basis, while elsewhere a direct payment system was being adopted. Some of the FCI depots were being run by regular staff.

The federation representatives, while discussing the pending demands with the management, asked the FCI to reinstate the sacked workers at 14 depots and devise a policy under which a uniform system of labour was adopted without any discrimination. It further called for payment of overtime to ‘palledars’, revival of employment on compassionate ground in death cases and grant of ex-gratia in accordance with the policy of April 1, 1997.

Mr Bhattian and Mr Koom Kalan maintained that the meeting was held in a receptive atmosphere and the senior officials assured them that the decisions, which could be taken at the region level would be given effect within one week and others would be handled at the higher level, would be forwarded to the central office at Delhi for a favourable decision.

Ludhiana, December 14
Activists of the Ludhiana Sewa Sangh, led by its president, Mr Suresh
Gupta, held a demonstration against the Congress government for what
they termed as backing out from the poll promise of providing free
water supply and sewerage facility to the urban people in Punjab.

Carrying placards and water supply and sewerage bills issued by the Municipal Corporation, the demonstrators raised anti-government slogans, charging the ruling party with betraying the urban electorate.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Gupta said that the Congress government, headed by Captain Amarinder Singh was continuing the same anti-urban population policies. “During the last assembly elections, the Congress had promised to do away with the water and sewerage charges. But in a volte face, the government has approved a policy to further enhance the water and sewerage charges in a phased manner which is tantamount to stabbing the people in the back.”

He said the plea that the free water and sewerage facility could not be granted due to poor financial position of the state was not tenable in view of the good financial health of the civic body which could well afford to sacrifice the meagre revenue that the water and sewerage charges from domestic consumers generated in the city.

Ludhiana, December 14
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), while criticising the killing of sugarcane growers in Uttar Pradesh, who were agitating to press their demand for remunerative price of the produce, has called upon the government to grant adequate compensation to the families of the victims and to take stern action against the erring police officers.

Addressing a meeting here today, its president Mr Sukhminder Singh Kadian, focused on the plight of sugarcane growers in Punjab, which was no better. “The sugar mills are not paying arrears of farmers running into Rs 80 crore and the government is watching the situation like a mute spectator.” Mr Kadian, who was elected president of the district unit on December 10 and was authorised to nominate other office- bearers.

Ludhiana, December 14
A state-level rally of ex-servicemen would be organised here on December 16 to observe Vijay Divas which marks the 31st anniversary of victory of Indian Armed forces on Pakistan. Mr Tej Parkash Singh, Punjab Minister for Transport, and many other dignitaries will pay homage to war heroes and honour the family members of martyrs.

This was stated by Wg Cdr M. S. Randhawa, Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, in a press release issued here yesterday. He said several decorated members of the armed forces, including Air Marshal Manjit Singh Sekhon and Col Harbant Singh Kahlon, would be honoured at this occasion.

It may be recalled that Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, a brave son of this district had fought valiantly against the intruders in Srinagar valley, engaging the enemy in an unequal aerial combat. He was posthumously awarded Param Vir
Chakra. Second Lieut Jatinder Singh Wander, another young officer from Jarg village had also laid down his life during the 1971 war.

Ahmedgarh, December 14
The Punjab Police has nabbed a Cooperative Bank Manager and his son along with a huge quantity of narcotics and drugs, including more than seven lakh capsules, tablets and injections. The youngest son of the manager was earlier caught with similar materials and is still facing a case under the NDPS Act.

According to Mr Amandeep Rai, SSP, Sangrur, the district police received an information that both of them were selling drugs and narcotics near educational institutions in Malerkotla and surrounding towns. A team was constituted under the guidance of Mr Rajbachan Singh, DSP, Malerkotla, to nab them. On a tip off that some persons were allegedly selling intoxicants and narcotics in a car near Government College, Malerkotla, they raided the college and nabbed Hari Chand, manager of Central Cooperative Bank and his son Rajesh, and took into possession manager’s car (PB-28A-5250) along with 65,000 tablets and capsules and intoxicant injections. Mr Sandhu and the Senior Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital also accompanied the raiding party. During interrogation the accused disclosed that a huge haul of narcotics was lying at their house at Arajanwala Mohalla, Malerkotla. The police seized this stock also which included seven lakh capsules and 377 injections.

Mr Rai said the accused used to sell the tablets and injections at a price 10 times higher than that printed on the products. Though these analgesic drugs were meant for treating neurophepriotical ailments but the accused used to sell them only to the drug
addicts. The addicts used to get these drugs only after telling their code numbers. Proxiven was called ‘Tiddey’ and Drazepam ‘Sussri’. ‘Maruti’ was the name given to lamolil while Parvespasm was called Tractor. Even within this brand ‘Ford’ name was given to blue and HMT to red parvispas.

Highlighting the modus operandi of the accused, Mr Rai said Hari Singh used to transit the materials safely by using his influence as the Manager of the bank.

Ludhiana, December 14
The Basti Jodhewal police yesterday claimed to have solved the mystery of a human skeleton that was found in a vacant plot in Gaunsgarh village about two and a half month ago with the arrest of two persons from the same village.

The arrested persons have been identified as Gurpreet Singh and his accomplice Jagjit Singh. According to the police, the skeleton found in the plot was that of Sonu, a young man employed by Gurpreet Singh as a farm hand. Several days prior to the discovery of skeleton a tiff had occurred between the employer and his servant Sonu over the cutting of fodder during which the former hit the victim with an agricultural implement in the head as a result of which Sonu died on the spot. Gurpreet Singh then hid the body in the heap of fodder and went home. When it grew dark, he returned to the spot with a friend Jagjit Singh and both of them tried to create a suicide scene by hanging the body by a tree. Not satisfied with the setting, the accused loaded the body onto a cart and dumped it in a vacant plot that belonged to Mr Vikram Aggarwal, a resident of Aggar Nagar. It was on the complaint of Mr Aggarwal that the police had registered a case on September 28 after the skeleton was discovered.

Youth swallows poison:

Twenty-year-old Rajiv Kumar, who lives in Bharat Nagar, swallowed some poisonous substance last evening following which he was rushed to the Civil Hospital. The youth , who is reported to have taken the step due to domestic tension on account of his father’s illness and a property dispute, is now stated to be out of danger.

Tractor driver killed:

Twentytwo-year-old Raj Kumar, a resident of Tajpur Road, died on the spot when he was crushed by the tractor he was driving while on way to Bhamia village here yesterday. According to information, the tractor turned turtle on the way and Raj Kumar was crushed under it. His body has been handed over to the family after a post-mortem.

Injured labourer dies:

Lalu Mandal, 28, a migrant working in a factory in Deep Nagar in the Focal Point area, who was injured on Thursday after being accidentally hit by an iron rod on the head while working in the factory, succumbed to his injuries yesterday in a hospital.

Fraud alleged:

The Sarabha Nagar police has registered a case of alleged fraud and intimidation on the statement of Mr Mohinder Singh, a resident of the locality, against Abdul Jamil , P.N.Sharma and others. The complainant, who is the managing director of a builders firm in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, had alleged that he had floated a company in collaboration with the accused about 15 months ago. But the accused committed a fraud on him by preparing a forged power of attorney. The accused were also demanding money from him and threatening him as well, he added.

Woman succumbs to burns:

Ms Kamlesh Rani, 45, a housewife living in Partap Singhwala village in the Haibowal area, who had set herself afire after dousing herself with kerosene, succumbed to the burns yesterday. According to information, the deceased, who was mentally unstable, took the extreme step at around 4 am - the time when she used to offer her morning prayers every day.

Beaten up:

The Haibowal police has registered a case under Sections 452,323,506 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Ashok Kumar, a resident of Vishal Towers, Aggar Nagar, against Ajit Singh and Raj Singh, both residents of Jagraon. The complainant had alleged that the accused forced their way into his farm house, beat him up and also threatened him.

The Model Town police has registered a case under Sections 341,506 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Radhe Shyam, a resident of Angad Pura Mohalla in Basti Jodhewal, against Shunty, Bunty and Mohan Lal, all residents of Manohar Nagar. The complainant had alleged that the accused had intercepted him on the way and beat him up. The accused also threatened him, he added.

Knife seized:

The Division Number Six police has nabbed Vijay Kumar, who lives near the Chand Cinema, with a kamanidar knife. He was later formally booked under Sections 25,54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

Liquor seized:

The Division Number Six police seized 12 bottles of illicit liquor from Nirmal Singh, alias Nimma, a resident of Jalandhar, and booked him under Sections 61,1 and 14 of the Excise Act.

Held for jamming traffic:
The Sahnewal police has arrested Kikkar Singh, a resident of Ferozepore, on a charge of parking his Tata-407 truck on the road and jamming the traffic, he was later booked under Section 283 of the IPC and bailed out.

JagraonTwo booked for fraud:

Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Janta Nagar, and Gurpal Singh Ghai, a resident of Housing Board Colony, Phase-I, Dugri, Ludhiana, have been booked under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC on charge of defrauding Jasbir Singh of Heran village.

According to information, the complainant, an agriculturist who was interested in going to Canada, came in contact with the accused. The accused promised to arrange a visa for him and to send him to Canada, if the complainant paid Rs 10 lakh to them.

The complainant gave Rs 2 lakh and his passport to Sukhdev Singh. He was advised to arrange Rs 2 lakh more as the amount was to be paid to Gurpal Singh Ghai. The complainant made the payment as directed.

Later the complainant was asked to arrange the balance amount of Rs 6 lakh. This amount was also paid by the victim to Gurpal Singh Ghai.

The victim was then called to a hotel in Delhi. The accused had promised to arrange a ticket for him and to ensure his flight to Canada, but the accused did not reach Delhi. The victim had to return to Ludhiana. When he contacted the accused, they threatened the complainant. Later, they issued two cheques for Rs 5 lakh each but the cheques bounced when presented in a bank. The victim lodged a complaint with Model Town police. The police refused to take action against the accused, alleged the complainant. Later Mr M.S. Chhina, SSP police district Jagraon, ordered the registration of a case and the accused were booked on the charge of cheating.

Ludhiana, December 14
Even 25 days after a 10-year-old boy went missing from his house in Upkar Nagar, there is no clue about the whereabouts of the boy.

Surya Parkash had left his house 25 days ago to play with his friends as he used to do everyday. But he did not return till late in the evening. His father Ratan Lal complained about his son to the police. But the police has not been able to do anything.

Ratan Lal even visited his native village to find the boy but to no avail. He had also checked up with his relatives in Ludhiana but nobody had any information.

Ludhiana, December 14
The Food Expo-2002 is proving to be a big draw with hundreds of people visiting the venue at hotel Maharaja Regency on the first day today.

The expo was inaugurated by the Health Minister, Mr R.C. Dogra. Mr Virgil D. Miedema, Regional Director (South Asia) of the American Soyabean Association (ASA), was the chief guest on the occasion. The Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, was also present on the occasion.

The minister took a round of all 40 stalls set up by various companies mostly dealing in food products. The minister appreciated the efforts of the organisers saying it was for the first time that he had seen such an integrated exhibition of various products related to the food industry in Punjab. The minister said he learnt a lot at this exhibition and observed more such programmes should be organised as these would help local entrepreneurs in getting a better exposure.

Given the Ludhianvis’ liking for new things and ideas, particularly those related to food, participation of a number of people on the inaugural day of the expo was quite natural. While the already popular brands like the Cremica, Britannia, Priyagold, Markfed, Cadburry, Nestle, Coca Cola and others were in great demand, rush was also witnessed at the counters of some new entrants like that of Poonam’s, a new entrant into cake manufacturing.

The stall of the American Soyabean Association also proved to be quite attractive as a number of preparations of soya were on display at the stall. The organisers there were telling people about the benefits of soyabean. It was one of the most visited stalls at the expo.

Mr Maninder Singh Sethi, director, Excelsior Advertising and PR, organisers of the event, said the exhibition was successful in attracting people. He claimed the response was massive. About 20,000 people visited the expo on the first day, he claimed. He said they were expecting a much bigger crowd on Sunday. The entry to the expo is free.

Ludhiana, December 14
Punjab and Sind Bank, Salem Tabri branch, Ludhiana, has cracked down on defaulters under the new Act on NPAs. To enforce recoveries under the new law six cases for Rs 36.10 lakh in the branch have been covered and properties worth lakhs of rupees are being processed for attachment. The process of acquisition and possession of properties has been initiated in the cases where notice has expired.

Mr Gurmit Singh, Branch Manager, and Mr Harminder Singh, Loan Officer, of Salem Tabri branch, said that of the six defaulters, five had already approached the bank for settlement, meetings had been fixed with Mr Rajinder Singh Chhatwal, Zonal Manager, Ludhiana for settlement. Three cases had been settled and cash recovery of 10.30 lakh had been recovered within days. Mr Gurmit Singh Bmand, Mr Inderpal Singh, Senior Manager, Law and Recovery in a press note issued here today said that this new action NPAs recovery was a valid tool with the help of which the recoveries could be made.